Every Thorn Has Its Rose

With 90 of the top 100 markets in the country still posting monthly job losses, veteran real estate investment banker John B. Levy predicts in his latest podcast that commercial real estate won’t begin to recover until 2011. But he adds that the federal government’s efforts to calm the financial markets through programs such as TALF are having a positive effect. For example, CMBS spreads have tightened some 500 basis points over the last few months.

His newest podcast, "Every Thorn Has Its Rose", Levy offers some sobering remarks about the state of the industry and what troubled borrowers can and should do to keep their portfolios from wilting amid the lack of liquidity.

Levy, a former columnist for Barron’s and NREI for 23 years, is the founder of real estate investment banking firm John B. Levy & Co. based in Richmond, Va.